General Petraeus on Status in Iraq (CNN Interview)

Posted By Blackfive

Highlights via CNN transcript:

...TONY HARRIS, CNN: “General Petraeus, Tony Harris with Heidi Collins in Atlanta. Just want to turn your attention to some of the reporting this week from The New York Times. The suggestion from a number of -- quoting some commanders on the ground, that the troop buildup in Baghdad is not going as well as had been hoped, that the effort to secure the 23 neighborhoods targeted by the troop buildup is going a little more slowly than had been anticipated. What's your response? “

 

PETRAEUS: “Well, Tony, I think in some cases that's correct. We achieved some early success through the first several months of the effort. The sectarian murder and execution rate was cut by over two-thirds.

 

“And then we saw it come back a bit during the month of May. This week it seems headed back down again, touch wood. But we clearly have some tough work to do. There have been some neighborhoods where we cleared and we're literally going to have to go back in and do that and we will.

 

“But I think it's important to remember that we're still a week and a half, two weeks away from having all of the surge forces even on the ground for the first time. We do have some aggressive plans to use those, to go after al Qaeda and some of the sanctuaries in which they've been able to build and dispatch car bombs for some time. That won't be without a fight, but it is something that we must do in the areas around Baghdad to provide better security for the people in Baghdad.”

 

HARRIS: “So General, just to be clear, you do not have all of your troops on the ground in country in Baghdad yet?”

 

PETRAEUS: “That is correct. The fifth of the five surge brigades and the marine expeditionary unit and the combat aviation brigade are still positioning themselves in Iraq as we speak, or moving up from Kuwait. And again, they'll all be in position and actually in operations in less than two weeks.”

 

COLLINS: “General, we also had some reports yesterday, we reported here anyway, that Turkish soldiers were crossing into northern Iraq to fight Kurdish militants there. Reports have been denied. We recognize that. But what would it mean for U.S. strategy and the tactics in the region?”

 

PETRAEUS: “Well it certainly could mean a rise in some tensions there. Interestingly, I talked to the vice chief of defense staff of Turkey just two days ago. We have a relationship. We have common interests, not just with respect to the terrorists who are up in the very large, tall mountains up in northern Iraq but also frankly in what comes through Syria, because as you know, foreign fighters have been able to move through Syria.

 

“And so we discussed how we might be able to help each other. But I think that the Turkish military has taken some very prudent steps, they are poised to do what they deem is necessary if it comes to that. But they did not make any moves yesterday as were originally reported...”

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General Petraeus on Status in Iraq (CNN Interview)

Highlights via CNN transcript:

...TONY HARRIS, CNN: “General Petraeus, Tony Harris with Heidi Collins in Atlanta. Just want to turn your attention to some of the reporting this week from The New York Times. The suggestion from a number of -- quoting some commanders on the ground, that the troop buildup in Baghdad is not going as well as had been hoped, that the effort to secure the 23 neighborhoods targeted by the troop buildup is going a little more slowly than had been anticipated. What's your response? “

 

PETRAEUS: “Well, Tony, I think in some cases that's correct. We achieved some early success through the first several months of the effort. The sectarian murder and execution rate was cut by over two-thirds.

 

“And then we saw it come back a bit during the month of May. This week it seems headed back down again, touch wood. But we clearly have some tough work to do. There have been some neighborhoods where we cleared and we're literally going to have to go back in and do that and we will.

 

“But I think it's important to remember that we're still a week and a half, two weeks away from having all of the surge forces even on the ground for the first time. We do have some aggressive plans to use those, to go after al Qaeda and some of the sanctuaries in which they've been able to build and dispatch car bombs for some time. That won't be without a fight, but it is something that we must do in the areas around Baghdad to provide better security for the people in Baghdad.”

 

HARRIS: “So General, just to be clear, you do not have all of your troops on the ground in country in Baghdad yet?”

 

PETRAEUS: “That is correct. The fifth of the five surge brigades and the marine expeditionary unit and the combat aviation brigade are still positioning themselves in Iraq as we speak, or moving up from Kuwait. And again, they'll all be in position and actually in operations in less than two weeks.”

 

COLLINS: “General, we also had some reports yesterday, we reported here anyway, that Turkish soldiers were crossing into northern Iraq to fight Kurdish militants there. Reports have been denied. We recognize that. But what would it mean for U.S. strategy and the tactics in the region?”

 

PETRAEUS: “Well it certainly could mean a rise in some tensions there. Interestingly, I talked to the vice chief of defense staff of Turkey just two days ago. We have a relationship. We have common interests, not just with respect to the terrorists who are up in the very large, tall mountains up in northern Iraq but also frankly in what comes through Syria, because as you know, foreign fighters have been able to move through Syria.

 

“And so we discussed how we might be able to help each other. But I think that the Turkish military has taken some very prudent steps, they are poised to do what they deem is necessary if it comes to that. But they did not make any moves yesterday as were originally reported...”

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